Although airbags have been required safety equipment for U.S. automobiles since 1998, the technology is only recently becoming commonplace on aircraft. Airbags are now often found in business and first class passenger seats of commercial airliners as well as in many pilot seats used in general aviation. In most airbag systems, a controller is configured to receive a signal from a crash sensor and to supply an electrical current to an inflator, which produces a gas to inflate an airbag. Controllers used in aircraft environments have unique requirements that complicate their design. First, the controllers in aircraft are battery powered and must be able to operate for 10 years plus 1 additional year without a change in batteries. Secondly, in order to be cost effective, such controllers must be able to be used with a variety of seat configurations without hardware redesign.